There is perhaps no actor that fans want to see in the Marvel Cinematic Universe more than Keanu Reeves. The beloved actor has been having a career resurgence of late (not that he ever went away) and the internet is constantly championing to see him join the premier film franchise of the day. But who would he play in the MCU? There are a lot of thoughts on that, but if some new fan art is anything to go by, Keanu Reeves could look pretty great as X-Men villain Mister Sinister. Take a look:
Wow, Keanu Reeves definitely looks like a convincing Mister Sinister here. It sounds like BossLogic has been reading the new Dawn of X relaunch of the X-Men at Marvel Comics and he noticed a striking similarity between Mister Sinister’s facial hair and the beard Keanu Reeves sports in a film like this year’s John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. So, the artist merged the two and imagined what the internet’s favorite person could look like as the X-Men villain.
The result is an incredibly evil looking Nathaniel Essex. The character of Mister Sinister, with the black cape, red accents and pale skin, already has something of a vampiric quality to him and that really comes through here. Keanu Reeves may not have played Dracula in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but he can definitely pull of that kind of look.
The Mister Sinister in the new Dawn of X comics comes off a bit less outwardly sinister than in some depictions and actually has a bit of sassiness to him that is kind of funny. Keanu Reeves might not be the guy you would normally go to for that, but as his memorable performance in Netflix’s Always Be My Maybe showed, he can definitely deliver on that front.
Of course, Mister Sinister isn’t the only Marvel character that fans have suggested Keanu Reeves could play in the MCU. He has been fan cast in multiple roles, including Wolverine, Ghost Rider, Moon Knight, and Adam Warlock to name a few. Fortunately, it seems that Keanu Reeves is bound to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe sooner or later.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has said that they talk to Keanu Reeves for almost every film they make and that they are trying to find a way to bring him in, so with any luck it will happen. And if it does, Mister Sinister sounds like as good a role as any for Keanu Reeves to play.
For one thing, Mister Sinister sounds like a strong candidate for a villain in the MCU X-Men films. As we’ve seen with the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies, Marvel Studios doesn’t like to repeat the villains that have been done onscreen before. Kevin Feige has said as much, indicating that Marvel wants to show audiences something new.
A lot of the mutant team’s biggest villains have already been exhausted during the Fox era of the X-Men, including the Hellfire Club, Magneto, Dark Phoenix, the Sentinels, and Apocalypse. Only a few of those may have done well and many could certainly use a do-over in the MCU, but they have been done before. So Mister Sinister is arguably the biggest X-Men villain we haven’t seen yet.
The only potential downside to having Keanu Reeves play Mister Sinister is the MCU’s villain churn could result in him only showing up in one film, whereas a role as a hero could make Keanu a permanent part of the franchise.
The MCU’s Phase 4 begins next year. Check out all of next year’s biggest movies in our 2020 Release Schedule.
